Aug

9

Those of you who have liked my Facebook page or follow my Twitter account, have probably already seen the mobile web design I did for Windsor Squash and Fitness. The reason it took me so long for me to write a blog post about it, is because I wanted to get a bit of data on how it was performing.

As you can see, it’s a very clean design, which matches the color and link scheme of the main website. You can view the full version of the site online by visiting http://mobile.windsorsquash.ca or going to windsorsquash.ca on your iPhone, Android, Blackberry or basically any mobile device.

I added a PHP code to the top of the main Windsor Squash site, which reads which type of browser the visitor is using. If it reads a mobile web browser of any sort, it redirects the user to the mobile version of the site. The web design itself was created using an HTML DIV based design as well as plenty of clean coded CSS.

So far, the site is proving to be very worthwhile for the great people at Windsor Squash and Fitness. Since the mobile version was launched, they’ve seen an increase in mobile traffic as well as a decrease in the bounce rate on the mobile version. For those of you unfamiliar with bounce rate, “it represents the percentage of initial visitors to a site who “bounce” away to a different site, rather than continue on to other pages within the same site.” Basically, it means more people are staying on the mobile version of the site now that it is optimized for mobile viewing.

I encourage all my clients to create a mobile version of their site. Many of the websites online are not optimized for mobile devices and this could easily mean loss of traffic and more importantly, loss of sales. Mobile users want quick and easy access to a website without having to “pinch”, “pull” or “zoom” in and out. If you’re interested in having a mobile version of your site designed, please get in touch.

Again, I’d like to thank Brian and everyone at Windsor Squash and Fitness for giving me the opportunity to work with them on their mobile web design. I look forward to continuing work with them on their online marketing in the future!

Jun

13

Those of you who follow me on Twitter or are a fan of my Windsor Web Design Facebook page, know that I’ve been working on a mobile web design for Windsor Squash and Fitness. This also means you know that I’ve a big believer in having your website optimized for mobile devices such as the; iPhone, Blackberry and Android. If you don’t have a mobile version of your site online, you could be missing out on all the mobile traffic your site is getting!

Take a look at your Google Analytics or whichever stats program you’re using for your website and find how many mobile devices have visited your site in the past month. If you don’t have a mobile version for your website, chances are you lost on most of that traffic. People on mobile devices want to be able to get into your site, get quick information on your business and get out without having to pinch, pull or zoom anywhere. I took a look at the mobile traffic for Windsor Squash and Fitness over the past month and of the 57 unique visits they had from mobile devices only 2% stayed on the site longer than 5 seconds. Let me repeat that 5 seconds! Why did this happen? It’s simple, the full version of the web design I created, didn’t render properly on mobile devices. That’s why they’ve decided to have me create an all new, mobile only version of their site! Over the past week, I’ve done a few tests using the mobile only version and of the 17 people who have visited the site 82% stayed longer than 5 seconds and 71% stayed longer than 15. Great improvement from the non-mobile version.

If you’re interested in having a mobile web design created for your small business in Windsor or anywhere in Southwestern Ontario, please contact me. Even if I didn’t create the full version of your website, I can easily create a mobile version that is branded in the same way and uses all of the same colors and fonts. The mobile designs I’ve done so far have been done in under 2 weeks and have been done at very affordable rates!

Jan

31

Many of you have probably visited some of your favorite web sites on your iPhone or Blackberry only to find it looks different than the site you’re used to seeing on your PC or laptop. That’s because the site you’re visiting has a simpler version created just for mobile devices. I myself created a mobile web design for my portfolio site, feel free to check it out on your phone or even on your computer by going to Sebastian Agosta | Mobile Version.

The reason more and more companies and individuals are creating mobile web sites is because more and more people are using their mobile devices to browse the web. This article on mashable shows how some analysts think people will surf the web on their phone more than on their desktop by 2015. It’d be silly for to create a web design for your company and not have a mobile site setup.

If you do want to get a mobile version done for your site and it’s not being designed or developed by me, I want you to keep a few things in mind.

1) Be sure to create it so that there isn’t too much scrolling. I wouldn’t make my design much longer than what would fit on your basic iPhone or Android device.
2) Make the links large enough that someone doesn’t have to zoom in to click it. As you can see on my mobile site the links are the entire width of the page.
3) Condense your mobile site to show only what’s absolutely necessary. I find that some people who do mobile web design forget that people are surfing on their phones and probably aren’t going to spend hours searching through the 100 pages you have. Keep it sweet and simple. My mobile version only has 5 pages.

There are a few other things I would suggest, but those are the main 3. If you’re curious about what else I would add or remove from a mobile web design feel free to contact me. I’d be happy to give you a free consultation.